Dale Earnhardt Sr. Wasn't Always So Popular
 

Over the last number of years, Jimmie Johnson won NASCAR championship after championship until this past season where Tony Stewart won it all. Earnhardt Jr. on the other hand, hasn't had the same amount of success.

However, despite this, Earnhardt remains perhaps the most popular driver, and is on more TV ads than Johnson and Stewart.

Of course, the reason is that Earnhardt Sr. became enormously popular after his untimely death years ago.

But here's the thing: when Earnhardt Sr. was with us, half of the NASCAR fans loved him, while the other half didn't feel that way at all as he won races and championships. But when he died, all of a sudden, everyone loved him.

People tend to forget this.

That is damn good to be loved by half

It beats being hated by a majority and the rest being apathetic

He was the epitome of modern NASCAR

If you think his death made him adorable then you show your lack of knowledge about NASCAR

IMO

He had huge respect as a racer. Deservedly so.

I think you might be mixing up the matter of love and respect

How old are you??

Earnhardt Sr. was incredibly popular in the south before his death... he was practically a demigod to them all. Since the south makes up a very large portion of the NASCAR fanbase, it's not really all that accurate to say that he wasn't super loved until after his death.

For myself, I never liked him... but that's cause I'm a Jeff Gordon fan. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...es/biggrin.gif

I never liked him because I'm not a Nascar fan my dad was a fan though.

Sure there was plenty of people in the south that loved Dale Sr. before he passed away. But there was plenty of other folks who didn't like him at all.

But when he died, all of a sudden practically everybody loved him.

I watched the 1997 Daytona 500 with an open mind. I hadn't been a race fan and didn't lean towards anyone. Earnhardt Sr. won me over that day and I was a fan thereafter. I lost interest somewhat after his death but didn't quit watching until about 2006.

I have a pretty cold heart they say.

When Sr. died it hit me more than I ever would have expected.

It was so unexpected and never should have happened I guess played a part.

At least he finally won Daytona before that.

I have lost a lot of interest in Nascar since. Nothing to do with him. I kind of only make a point of watching Daytona. There are some guys that never won who I root for.

I've never understood the fascination with watching cars make a high speed left turn for 500 miles - and I grew up in Georgia.

I went to the time trials twice at Alanta Speedway. It was fun drinking beer with my buds...take away the beer, not so much fun.

Different strokes for different folks.

Mark Martin got straight up outright fucked out of winning the Daytona 500 a few years back and Kevin Harvick won instead. That was the last time I sat down and watched a race. It became obvious Nascar makes up the rules as they go along and I got sick of it.

I couldn't imagine actually going to a race, unless it was Watkins Glen or Infineon (the two road tracks)... but it's kinda fun to watch on TV. If I'm home during a race, I'll put it on while I do other stuff around the house.

So many suddenly forget about why they dislike a racer like Earnhardt when he dies.

The reality is that any athlete or driver should be remembered honestly. The guy knocked out a lot of drivers on purpose in his day. He could've killed someone while doing so.

Thirty years from now, we'll still be hearing about and thinking about Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Come on now. Part of the attraction of NASCAR is the cars leaning on each other in the corners, blocking and a little shove to get someone out of the way. Sr knew just where to tap you to spin you out. He was the man you loved to hate, but that was just as important to the story of the race as the hero's. Hell once he retired I even started to like Jaws. When Sr. died, and how he died, it did tear a hole in most every NASCAR fan. It didn't matter if you rooted for or against him, it was a major loss. You want it rough and tumble, but you don't want that.

Other Note: I've watched/followed/enjoyed most every kind of racing over the years. The road course snobs vs oval lugheads argument always seems the most entertaining. You could say about road courses let's go watch a hundred feet of the race track so we can see the cars go by us in a line. As with any sport the more you understand the skills and tactics involved in being a successful participant the more you can appreciate (notice I did not say like) the sport.

OKay, one more note: And you are surprised about NASCAR changing the rules why? From the days of Francis Sr they have never hidden that they would change things if one person got too dominant. Check out what happened to Petty and his Hemis when he started winning everything under the sun.

Look they made another left turn

Dale Earnhardt Sr. was still very popular before his death. There's always a love hate relationship when it comes down to any sport, sometimes people will like an athlete and others they can be irritated by them. Same goes for not everyone will like the same athlete. I can guarantee it wasn't only in the south that Sr. was popular WAY before his death.
Sr. was popular for being the "intimidator", this obviously didn't happen after he died. His nickname is why many didn't like him, but why so many more loved him when it came down to racing.
I wish the man was still on the track, but unfortunately he is not.
I, for one, am a NASCAR fan...BTW did anyone watch the Daytona 500?!?! What did ya think of that jet dryer fire?! WOWZA lol

I never thought Earnhardt Sr. was the best, as he often cheated to win by knocking out other cars during a race on purpose.

The winner of a race is supposed to be the team who raced better then everyone else that day, not who was the best at winning crash derbys.

This.

As far as the 500 goes... I chalk that up to Montoya being an idiot as usual. Which reminds me of something Jeff Gordon's spotter said during the Phoenix race when Jeff was bitching about Montoya driving like an idiot as usual.

I know bud, but you can't fix stupid.